Maxwell, Warner and Test quicks rested for white-ball leg of Pakistan tour

[Nergal]

 

Warner and Maxwell are high-profile players in their respective IPL squads. © Getty
Australia's pace trio Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc as well as David Warner and Glenn Maxwell have been rested for the white-ball leg of the Pakistan tour.

Squad: Aaron Finch (C), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
As has been reported by Cricbuzz already, four of the aforementioned players, who are also key personnel in their respective IPL franchises, will miss the first week of the T20 league owing to Cricket Australia's policy of not allowing contracted players to feature in other tournaments while the national team is in action. They can however, travel to India immediately after the Tests against Pakistan and complete their quarantine requirements and be available to play the IPL from April 6.

Australia's squad for the three ODIs and a solitary T20I in Pakistan contains other IPL bound players including Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott and Nathan Ellis. They will miss at least another week owing to travel and quarantine requirements.

Australian players not on a CA contract such as Riley Meredith and Daniel Sams will be free to link up with their IPL teams after any state commitments are over, as will Tim David and Nathan Coulter-Nile, neither of whom hold state contracts.

Matthew Wade, who was signed on by Gujarat Titans, has not been picked for the solitary T20I with Josh Inglis set to take over the gloves after an impressive series against Sri Lanka.

"We have picked a talented and versatile squad with a number of challenges to juggle, including the tour structure of predominantly 50 over games, management of several multi-format players in the medium to long term; and our need to build experience and depth in preparation for two short-form World Cups within the next 18 months," National Selector George Bailey said in a statement.

"We're confident the squad can both compete successfully on this tour and continue our progress towards those crucial tournaments."

The four games of the white-ball leg are scheduled to be played in Rawalpindi on March 29, March 31, April 2 and April 5 respectively. The IPL 2022 schedule is yet to be confirmed but is tentatively expected to start on the weekend of March 26-27.